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          NFL Nation

          Bengals' revamped O-line could finally unlock their offensive potential under Joe Burrow

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterMar 25, 2022, 10:00 AM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals almost pulled off one of football’s greatest heists.

          Despite the constraints of a historically poor pass-blocking unit, the franchise that entered the 2021 postseason without a playoff win in three decades was minutes away from winning its first Super Bowl before the Los Angeles Rams snatched the Lombardi Trophy from them with a dramatic comeback in the final minutes.

          In the following weeks, Cincinnati decided enough was enough. The team added three starters on the offensive line in free agency -- center Ted Karras, right guard Alex Cappa and right tackle La'el Collins -- to bolster a unit that gave up 51 sacks last season.

          Now, the Bengals are banking those moves will unleash the offense's full potential under quarterback Joe Burrow.

          “For the most part, our identity on offense is pretty well established,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said in a virtual news conference on Wednesday. “But then you start to see, okay, maybe this opened some things up, maybe we won't run the same volume of some other things that we've run in the past.”

          While Taylor said all that will be figured out as the offseason evolves, the numbers from the team’s best playoff run in 33 years show why revamping the offensive line was so important.

          The Bengals, fueled by forced turnovers and rookie kicker Evan McPherson, nearly won the Super Bowl with one of the most ineffective postseason offenses of any conference champion over the past 10 years. Of the past 20 teams to play for the Lombardi Trophy, Cincinnati ranked 19th in yards per play and 17th in points per drive, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

          As Taylor alluded to, the state of the offensive line could play a key role in the poor offensive showings. Cincinnati gave up 19 sacks in the postseason, the most of any team to play in the Super Bowl over the past decade. In the 2021 playoffs, Burrow’s pressure rate of 35.2% was the fourth-highest of any quarterback.

          In his first NFL season, Burrow showed how effective he can be when he isn’t being harassed and chased by opposing defensive linemen. In the regular season, his 74.9 Total QBR when not pressured ranked third in the league, trailing only Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. When Burrow was pressured, the QBR dropped to 13.6.

          Given those numbers, it’s no surprise the Bengals dramatically improved the offensive line.

          “The expectations need to be higher at this position,” Karras said. “I’m going to work our hardest to get the job done and hopefully make life easy for our QB.”

          It also shouldn’t be a shock that Burrow played an active role throughout free agency. He went to dinner with Karras and Cappa after they had agreed to terms with the Bengals. When Cincinnati recruited Collins through the weekend, Burrow invited him over to his house after dinner one night.

          Burrow had a modest spread that was highlighted by crackers and cupcakes. But the gesture was enough to get Collins to commit to the Bengals.

          “That really put it over the top,” Collins said in his introductory news conference. “That really stamped it. That really showed me this is where I wanted to be. These are the guys I want to be around.”

          In his only full NFL season to date, Burrow has displayed the traits of a franchise quarterback. He recovered from the left knee injury that ended his rookie year in 2020, cut down his interception total that was the highest in the NFL at one point in 2021.

          In addition to Burrow, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase was the Offensive Rookie of the Year and running back Joe Mixon reached his first Pro Bowl. Wide receiver Tee Higgins joined Chase with a 1,000-yard season. With new tight end Hayden Hurst in the fold for next season, the Bengals could go from an offense that was good in spurts in 2021 to being one of the league’s best.

          Those types of players weren’t lost on Collins.

          “Just look at that roster,” Collins said. “Look at this team. They are loaded everywhere. [They] just needed guys up front to do that job.”

          Cincinnati spent the money in hopes of finding the right players to protect Burrow. And if the moves are successful, the Bengals will be playing for the Super Bowl because of the offense, not in spite of it.